IGN's Back to School Buyer's Guide: Gadgets

You've already got a great bag, but now it's time to fill it with great gadgets. Nowadays, gadgets offer much more than a way to distract yourself in boring lectures, they offer a way to learn faster, study harder, and then distract yourself in boring lectures. There are hundreds of awesome gadgets out there, but here are a few of our favorites.

Tablets

It's hard to imagine that five years ago, bringing a tablet to class would have been just about unheard of. Nowadays, tablets have probably replaced even paper as the best way to way to take your notes. Our two favorite tablets for school should be obvious, but our reasons might be less so.

The iPad is a lot more expensive than many tablets on the market. But you know what's even more expensive than a tablet? A few semester's worth of books.

That's why Apple's deal with college book publishers - which allows you to purchase single chapters instead of entire books - could end up saving you hundreds of dollars by graduation. That's not even to mention many iBooks are being updated with informative videos, diagrams that interact to your touch, and virtual quizzes.

On top of the book deals, there are also hundreds of useful accessories, which will make your iPad even more functional in class.

While it can be a bit harder to get serious work done on a smaller screen like the Nexus 7's, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean has an excellent keyboard which makes it fairly easy to crank out an impressive amount of words per minute.

Plus, the Nexus 7 is so small and light, it's easy to carry this to class with your laptop and books, without breaking your back. The Google Drive app allows you to work on Google Docs without an internet connection, which means the Nexus 7's lack of 3G probably won't hinder your workflow much in class. In fact, it may just save you from constantly checking your Facebook instead of paying attention.

Every once in a while, a tablet just won't cut it. Sometimes you just need to handwrite your notes. But who wants to carry both? Well, fortunately with the Booqpad, you'll never need to choose between the two. Not only does the Booqpad come with paper and slots for steno pads, but it also stores your pens, stylus, cash, or whatever you've got.

The Booqpad comes in a variety of colors, all of which look classy and are constructed well enough to survive your four years of school.

Not quite willing to ditch your three-ring binder, but want to guarantee your iPad is part of your workflow? Enter the Griffin Binder Insert Case, which is - well, what it sounds like - a case with a standardized three holes to fit securely in your binder. At $24.99, it's not going to break the bank either.

Verbatim Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard - $79.99

Some days touch-typing just won't cut it. On those days, you'll want the Verbatim Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard, which can quickly pair to your tablet of choice. Better still, the keyboard is ultra-thin and folds in half, so you can throw it in its tiny carrying case and into your bag.

If you opt for the Nexus 7 as your tablet of choice, we absolutely recommend a bluetooth keyboard like this. This keyboard comes in two colors, black and white.

The Swann HD PenCam has to be the coolest gadget for back to schoolers who want to feel like spies.

The pen works as a pen, but can also capture HD videos and high-res jpegs. If your professor or teacher is getting excessively complex, you can just flip the camera on an record up to 8 hours of video or take up to 72,000 images.

The HD PenCam comes with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and can both charge and transfer files via any old USB port.

Some people have a pretty hard time waking up in the morning. If you're going to struggle to make your 8 o'clock classes, you might want to look into the Time Command by Stem Innovations. This alarm clock can dock your Apple devices and crank out your favorite tunes when its time to wake up. But better still, with the free Time Command App you can connect a bedside lamp and have it switch on when its time to wake up. If there's a power outage, a built-in battery backup will make sure you still make it to Madam Norman's Intro to French, no matter how crazy you raged the night before.

Between blasting music, dimming lights, and a battery backup, we'd say this one makes waking up almost foolproof, no matter what shenanigans happened the night before.

If a recent Amazon invite is any indication, we'd bet safe money that new Kindles are right around the corner. But if you're looking for a cheap fix right now, the $79 Kindle is a steal.

It's lighter than just about any book, features easy on the eyes e-ink, and stores hundreds of books before coming close to filling.

To make matters even better, those are books that often cost much less than their paper versions. To sweeten the pot even more, if you have an Amazon Prime subscription you can "rent" a book for a month at a time.

If you're taking many literature classes, buying a Kindle may just end up saving you money in the long run.

Evernote and Moleskin have teamed up to make a notebook that works flawlessly with their mobile app.

Simply take your notes in class, and when you reach the end of the page, take a snapshot with Evernote's Page Camera feature. Your notes will instantly become digital, searchable, shareable text. While we have a hunch you might be able to get away with this with other notepads (or at least other Moleskines), apparently the book contains specially formatted paper that make the Evernote app work seamlessly with it. Pretty cool idea for a pretty good price.

The Sony Playstation 3D Display has some problems. Many users have experienced weird glitches or even had their display die after just a few months of use, and that should make even the most frivolous of spenders wary. But it's also one of the only $199.99 displays to boast 3D, and to make the value even more appealing it also comes with MotorStorm Apocalypse, which means you can get straight to 3D gaming the second you take this thing out of the box.

Plus, you may not have room for a big TV in your dorm room, and the PlayStation 3D Display's sleek 24" display will fit in just about any nook in your room.

What back to school gadgets would you recommend for students? Make sure to check back tomorrow for our back to school computer buying guide!

Nic is the Tech Editor at IGN. He loves technology almost as much as Brand New, Haste the Day, and A Day to Remember. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.